In the annals of Texas journalism, Robert Heard stands out for many things: a biting wit, a prolific career, a lawyer's understanding of lawmaking, a determination to get the story even at considerable personal risk. It was the last trait that catapulted him from news reporter to news figure on Aug. 1, 1966, when he was shot in the shoulder during Charles Whitman's bloody rampage from the top of the University of Texas Tower in Austin. Heard, a 36-year-old Associated Press reporter, had followed two highway patrol officers on a wild sprint across a parking lot, but he forgot his Marine's training to zigzag.

Sure, journalists can be pushy louts, too hurried or self-important to worry who gets in their way. But movies and pop culture tend to fixate on the reporter as loud, conniving or politically sold-out, at the expense of images that are much more subtle and true.

They sat at a long table, appearing tense and tired Sunday as they looked over the heads of gathered journalists toward the armed, masked men in unmarked uniforms sitting at the back of the nearly empty auditorium. Then the leader of the unsmiling group on stage spoke. They were “guests” of self-proclaimed mayor of Slovyansk, Vyacheslav Ponomaryov, “a man of honor” at whose initiative they were holding this news conference in “this bizarre situation,” said Col. Axel Schneider, a German.

After a firestorm of criticism, the Obama administration is suggesting that it will make amends for its aggressive pursuit of journalists suspected of receiving leaks of classified information. But airy affirmations of the importance of a free press and vague promises of a new look at Justice Department regulations aren't enough. The administration needs to commit itself in specific terms to stronger protections for news gathering that will be embodied in a federal statute. It was bad enough that the Justice Department seized the records of calls from more than 20 telephone lines belonging to the Associated Press and its journalists without notifying the news agency in a timely fashion - or giving the AP the chance to object in court.

VATICAN CITY -- He's a charmer. Pope Francis on Saturday went before several thousand journalists, thanked them for their work, told a joke or two and even blessed (or at least patted) someone's guide dog. In a custom that dates at least to John Paul II, one of the pope's first public appearances was a meeting in the modern Paul VI Hall with an estimated 5,000 reporters who are based in Rome or had flown in to cover the week's historic events. Francis sat on the stage in a large but relatively simple chair and read a speech that thanked the press for its work during this “intense period” which had focused the world's eyes on the Roman Catholic Church.

MEXICO CITY -- Since a 2009 coup overthrew the president of Honduras, journalists have been killed, intimidated or silenced with virtual impunity, a new report concludes. In a country with an extraordinarily high murder rate , at least 36 journalists have been killed in the last four years, the report notes, and rarely has a case been seriously investigated, a suspect arrested or anyone punished. “In the new climate of fear, few journalists trust the institutions that should shield them from further violence,” PEN International and several partner groups said in an exhaustive, 89-page study released this month.

TEHRAN - More than a dozen journalists were arrested in Iran on Sunday and Monday, reportedly detained for ties to foreign Farsi-language outlets, according to Iranian media. The wave of arrests marks a new crackdown on the media in Iran, five months before Iranians head to the polls. Eleven reporters were reportedly detained late on Sunday, nearly one week after Iranian public prosecutor Gholam Hossain Moseni Ejeie warned, “We know that some of the local journalists have connections with foreigners.

KABUL, Afghanistan -- An Afghan police officer shot two Western journalists Friday, killing one and seriously wounding the other as they waited in a convoy of poll workers on the eve of the country's closely watched presidential election. The Associated Press said a veteran photographer, Anja Niedringhaus, 48, was killed instantly and that AP correspondent Kathy Gannon was wounded twice but was in stable condition. The shooting occurred in Khost, a violent province along the border with Pakistan, where the journalists were due to accompany election workers who were delivering ballots to outlying areas.

The case for a federal media "shield" law is simple: Reporters must be protected so they can give citizens the information they need, particularly information that powerful interests would rather keep secret. Whistle-blowers and other insiders -- without a meaningful promise of confidentiality from journalists -- would be less willing to expose wrongdoing, both in and out of government. The ability of journalists to protect their sources is, simply put, a fundamental pillar of our democracy and liberty.

DONETSK, Ukraine - Ukrainian government troops on Wednesday claimed to have swept out pro-Russia gunmen from a town in embattled eastern Ukraine, an operation the Kremlin warned could spark retaliation. The Ukrainian Interior Ministry statement that Svyatogorsk was under government control was dismissed as "a propaganda lie" by a leader of insurgents holding nearby Slovyansk, scene of the most violent and destabilizing clashes of the separatist movement that has been gaining momentum since Russia's annexation of Crimea last month.

WASHINGTON - A new policy bars employees of U.S. spy agencies from providing reporters with "intelligence information," even if it is unclassified, without first getting official permission. Employees who violate the directive, which was issued on March 20 by James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, face disciplinary action or firing. Critics said the order adds to a climate in which intelligence agency employees face greater risk in trying to help the public understand what the government is doing.

YANGON, Myanmar - Win Tin, one of Myanmar's most respected opposition leaders who was jailed for nearly two decades by his country's military rulers, died early Monday. He was 84. His death, attributed to organ failure, came as Myanmar marked the end of Thingyan, the Buddhist New Year, and five weeks after he was admitted to Yangon's main hospital on the evening of his 84th birthday. A former journalist who in 1988 co-founded the National League for Democracy Party with his longtime ally, Aung San Suu Kyi, Win Tin was one of the most prominent leaders of the movement to challenge the military junta that ruled what was then known as Burma.

It didn't last long, but for a short time in the 1840s the Mississippi River town of Nauvoo was the largest city in Illinois. While most municipalities thrived on trade, Nauvoo's propelling force was something much less tangible: faith. And that would also be the city's downfall. Before the fledgling Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints - the Mormons - made Salt Lake City the center of their earthly existence, they had settled in Nauvoo, following their founding prophet Joseph Smith.

MEXICO CITY - A highly touted system to protect Mexican reporters working in one of the world's most dangerous countries for journalists is failing miserably and may in fact further imperil those it is intended to help, media advocates say. In the first year of the administration of President Enrique Peña Nieto, killings of journalists declined significantly but other attacks multiplied, organizations that work on behalf of reporters said....

Patrick Seale Patrick Seale, 83, a veteran British journalist whose books established him as the leading expert on modern Syria, died Friday in London, according to family and friends. He had been diagnosed with brain cancer last year. Seale is best known for his authoritative biography of the late Syrian President Hafez Assad, "Assad of Syria: The Struggle for the Middle East. " Published in 1988, the book is considered the definitive work on Assad, the father of Syria's current leader.

We at the Voice of America could not agree more with Mihajlo Mihajlov's commentary (May 13) that, as Bosnian elections approach, the role of the media will grow in importance in that troubled land. VOA--through our international media training center--is doing something to help the media in Bosnia. This spring, we are training three groups of Bosnian journalists on election coverage in the U.S. Through the training we have learned a few things ourselves: Nearly 80% of the journalists remaining in Bosnia today are under age 26. They are long on dedication and education, but, as noted by Mihajlov, desperately short on equipment.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa--Two French journalists were kidnapped and killed in northern Mali on Saturday, just days after four French hostages were freed in Niger. The French Foreign Ministry confirmed the deaths of Ghislaine Dupont, 51, and Claude Verlon, 58, who authorities said were kidnapped by four armed men Saturday afternoon in the town of Kidal. The two journalists from Radio France International had just interviewed Ambeiry Ag Rhissa, a leader with the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad, known as MNLA, a Tuareg separatist group.

Charles Sumner 'Chuck' Stone Jr. Columnist and educator helped found association for black journalists Charles Sumner "Chuck" Stone Jr., 89, a longtime journalist and educator who was one of the founders of the National Assn. of Black Journalists, died Sunday at an assisted living facility in Chapel Hill, N.C., according to his daughter Allegra Stone. The cause was not given. Many who helped launch the association credited Stone as the driving force behind its founding, said its current president, Bob Butler.

KABUL, Afghanistan -- An Afghan police officer shot two Western journalists Friday, killing one and seriously wounding the other as they waited in a convoy of poll workers on the eve of the country's closely watched presidential election. The Associated Press said a veteran photographer, Anja Niedringhaus, 48, was killed instantly and that AP correspondent Kathy Gannon was wounded twice but was in stable condition. The shooting occurred in Khost, a violent province along the border with Pakistan, where the journalists were due to accompany election workers who were delivering ballots to outlying areas.